Can You See Me?
by gaylock
Summary: We all have a mask we hide behind; some are just better at hiding than others. A glimpse at two damaged men, finding some semblance of completion with each other.


Can You See Me?  
Part of the Painfully Human Series

Jim Moriarty was sitting behind his dark oak desk when his office door opened. "Hello, Seb."

His second in command, Sebastian Moran, stepped in. "Boss." He closed the door behind him and stepped forwards. "I've killed him."

Jim looks up and smirks. "Good. Did it all go according to plan? You know how I _hate_ to have my plans disrupted."

Sebastian shrugged slightly, inclining his head. "Well, he's dead. I'd say it went alright."

Jim's eyebrow rose slowly. "Alright? Seb, my dear." He stands up slowly. "You know I demand perfection. The plans must be followed. Exactly. As. I. Make them."

Sebastian muttered something vaguely and clasped his hands behind his back, shifting slightly on his feet. His face was lowered towards the floor, making it doubly hard to understand what he was saying.

"What was that?" Jim asked in a falsely sweet voice.

Sebastian gulped. "...I was seen." He said quietly, his voice barely loud enought to reach Jim's ears.

"I see." Jim moved slowly towards him, his motions much like that of a jungle cat, stalking its prey. "You were seen. I'm sorry, Sebastian, but my memory seems to have failed me. You'll have to help me remember..." He stops, standing in front of Sebastian and raised a single eyebrow. "Was being seen part of my plans?" His raised eyebrow twitched slightly, the only indication of any emotion on his face.

Sebastian tried to maintain eye contact with Jim, but couldn't keep his eyes locked with that deadeyed gaze. He turned to look at the wall opposite instead and slowly shook his head.

Jim lowered his eyebrow slowly. "I see." He ran a finger over the collar of Sebastian's shirt and up his neck, like a gentle caress. His finger tips tingled with anticipation.

Sebastian closed his eyes and tensed, his entire body stiffening. He shivered slightly and inhaled sharply through his nose.

Jim smirked at the reaction his actions solicited. "Sebastian." He slowly wrapped his hand around the taller mans neck, just resting his fingers there. "Seb. Darling." He admired the way his pale slim fingers looked in contrast to Sebastian's tanned, scarred neck, before he tightened his fingers.

Sebastian opened his eyes and stared at him, his body completely still, and held his breath. He could feel each individual digit pressing against his throat, directly against his windpipe.

Jim's expression stayed blank, but his voice turned nasty and dark. It was the voice of nightmares. "What. Did. You. Do. About. It?" He emphasised each word, making his point clear.

Although Sebastian tried to gasp out an answer, he instead only managed to make a strained noise as he raised a hand to try and loosen the fingers constricting his airway and making it impossible to speak. Jim squeezed tightly for a moment longer, before removing his hand. "Talk."

Sebastian drew in a few long breaths, wheezing slightly, before straightening out and panting. "Killed 'em. The ones who saw me. Disposed of 'em in the usual way." His words were soft and his voice rough, and Jim smiled internally at the red marks around Sebastians throat. Lovely.

"Good. You're sure they're all dead? Because Seb." Jim leaned up and whispered in his ear, his breath warm against Sebastians skin. "If you are wrong, if even _one_ of them still breathes...you will never see the light of day again." He lowered his voice as he spoke, closing his eyes and breathing in deeply through his nose. Jim loved the smell of Sebastian; he smelt of smoke and metal and blood. He smelt of death.

Sebastian swallowed dryly and tried not to wince at the pain, before rubbing his neck and murmuring, "I haven't see it for a long time, Boss, but I know that they're dead."

Jim inhaled once more, before stepping away from him and turning around. "Excellent." He said, and his voice sounded pleased.

Sebastian immediately hunched over as his boss turned away, trying to muffle his shaky breaths with one arm while carrying on rubbing his neck with the other. He could feel the slight indent left in his skin from the force of Jim's grip, and he shuddered, pain and fear turning to he arousal he was used to being subject to when at the mercy of his boss.

Jim felt his phone buzz in his pocket, and he pulled it out and glanced down at it, reading what was written there. A smile curled the corners of his lips up, and his dark eyes brightened in pleasure. "Ah, good." He turned back to look at his companion. "The next part of the plan has been put into action. I believe I have found you a..." Jim paused, searching for the correct word. "...trainee."

Sebastian straightened up as Jim turned around, his breathing still harsh and the red marks around his throat already beginning to turn the beautiful purple of a bruise. "A trainee? Since when did you hire _trainees_?"

Jim took a moment to admire his handiwork- no pun intended -and smiled slowly. Oh, this next tid bit of information was just gorgeous. "Since Molly Hooper came to me for help." And oh so ironic. And what type of criminal mastermind would he be, if he didn't appreciate irony?

Sebastian's mouth dropped open. " ...Hooper? The one you pretended to date for a while?" His eyes were wide and incredulous.

Jim's smile widened. "Indeed." He giggled slightly. "Oh, I love it when angels fall. And Molly Hooper was decidedly on the side of the angels."

"Wait, hang on. _She's_ the trainee?"

"Oh yes. And Sebastian, I do expect you to treat her with the proper respect. She is the key to _everything_."

Sebastian paused, then frowned. "I'm not having her follow me around like a fucking awe-stricken puppy." He crossed his arms over his chest. "I won't have it."

Jim walked away and sat behind his desk. "No, Seb. You will. If that is what she wishes to do, then you _will_ have it, because as I said, she is the key. To. Everything!" He screamed that last word and slammed a fist down onto the desk. He took a calming breath and stared forwards at the other man. "Is that understood?"

Sebastian couldn't help himself; he flinched at the scream, then skewed his mouth to the side with a larger frown. "Am I done, now? Do I need to do anything else tonight?" He uncrossed his arms and held them stiffly at his sides.

Jim faked a wounded look and say's in a singsong voice, "Are you really so eager to be rid of me? Seb, darling...you _wound_ me so."

Sebastian leaned back and crossed his arms, irritated. " _I_ wound _you_? Who's the one with bruises around his neck, hm?" He gestured at his injuries before continuing. "Who's the one with your initials scarred into his chest? Last time I checked, it wasn't you." Clearly done with the conversation, he turned on his heel and strode back to the door.

Jim's face turned furious and he pulled the gun out of his desk and shot the wall directly beside Sebastian's head. The sound of the gunshot reverberated through the air, and in the echoes, Jim said, "I do not tolerate insolence, Sebastian. The next time you play at being _important_ , I will _not_ hesitate to shoot. Your brains would make a lovely addition to the decor." He smiled nastily. "Rememer Sebastian. I own you. You are _nothing_ without me, and you would do well to remember that."

Sebastian smiled humourlessly at the door, then turned around and glanced at his boss with a shrug. "Do it, then. If you _own_ me, I'm sure you can find a replacement easily enough." He leaned casually against the wall beside the door, slouching so his head rested just under the bullet hole in the wall.

With a sigh, Jim said, "Is that what this is about? Darling, Molly Hooper is not your _replacement_." At his words, Sebastian's face darkened. Is he fucking serious?

"That is nowhere near what this is about. I don't give a shit if you end up fucking her in my bed, Boss, because at least then I'd have a break from being your plaything." He spat out, his anger rising up.

Jim's eyes glinted maliciously as he fingered the gun in his hand. "You are dismissed, Sebastian."

Sebastian watched him play with the weapon warily, before he whispered, "If you shoot me when I turn my back, I'll know that you're just as much of a coward as I thought you were."

Jims laugh filled the room. "Shoot you?" He lifted the gun and pointed it at the blonde for a moment, before laughing again and tossing it to the side. "And why would I do that? I don't shoot my favourite pets, dear. Not while they are still of use." His dark eyes roamed over Sebastian's body, lingering on the various scars visible, before coming to a stop on the mans obvious arousal. He licked his lips.

Sebastian scoffed, the anger in his eyes becoming more pronounced. He shifted on his feet. "Still of use. _Still of use_. Unbe-fucking-lievable. You won't even admit to yourself that you don't keep me around because you _own_ me, or because I'm of _use_ to you." His words were thrown out at Jim like knives, each sound sharp and meant to cut. It wasn't what he was saying, but what he wasn't saying, that made Jim stop and stare.

He leaned forwards slightly. "Oh? And why _do_ I keep you around, then? Enlighten me." His dark eyes were now clearly fixated on Sebastian's blue ones, and the emptiness they normally held was filled with something Sebastian couldn't quite place.

He shook it off and responded. "I think you keep me around because you need me like I need my finger on a trigger. You feel that same desperation when I'm not there that I experience whenever I'm not on a case. And I think that scares you. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe you're just a good liar, maybe you're really as insane as you seem to think you are. But I can see you. Not the criminal, not the mastermind. Just _you_. So. Shoot me." What had began as an angry diatribe ended in desperation, his words a plea even while they presented a challenge.

Jim stared at him for a moment before standing up slowly and walking towards him with the gun in his hand. "Can you? Can you _see_ me?" Jim looked at the gun before he held it out for Sebastian to take. Sebastian slowly moved a hand up to take the gun.

It was warm from Jim's grip, and his fingers twitched towards the trigger, the need to shoot rising up in him as it always did when he held a gun. He pushed the desire back and said, "I'm not as useless as you seem to think I am. I see the part of you that you probably don't see yourself." The feeling of his bosses gun in his hand was a heady thing, and that coupled with his gun addiction being fed made his arousal stronger.

Jim nodded slowly. "And what does that part of me look like, to you? What do _I_ look like, to you, Sebastian?" His words were soft, but his eyes were still dark and empty, showing nothing of what he was thinking.

"Someone like me. Someone who's had their spirit broken so many times that they're just carrying on because they have no choice."

Jim lifted a hand slowly to Sebastian's cheek. This caress was different from the first; this time it wasn't meant to end in pain. "But if you had a choice? If you had a choice, would you carry on anyways? If there was something, _someone_ for you to carry on for?"

Sebastian saw nothing in Jim's face change, but heard the difference of tone in his voice. While his face remained empty of any emotions, his voice, now shaky, betrayed him. He took a deep breath and answered the question with an answer he'd never thought he would say. "Always. My reason's carved his initials over my heart." Said heart thudded in his chest when, at his words, Jim raised a pale hand to rest over where the scar was.

Jim's whisper barely reached his ears. "Did you think I did that to all of them, Seb? Did you ever for a minute believe you weren't special?" One long digit traced the scar through Sebastian's shirt. "I didn't just turn you into my property that day, Sebastian. I didn't just make you _mine_." He looked up from where he'd been staring at where the scar was on the taller man's chest. "You wear me burned into your skin at all times, I made me _yours_."

Sebastian clenched his jaw and looked down, taking in dark eyes and brows and pale skin. "No tricks, Jim. This can't- you have to promise me this isn't you acting. You leading me on." Sebastian's voice was plaintive and desperate, the pain and fear obvious.

Jim laughed softly and glanced away. "Are my promises still worth anything to you? Do they deserve to be?" He looked back up and stared at Sebastian with determination. "I'm a monster, Seb. I have never pretended to be something else. But, if you can believe it, if you can trust me...I promise to be _your_ monster." He swallowed thickly, and his eyes were no longer empty dead things, but filled with emotion.

Sebastian stared down, then pressed the gun into his hand and held it up to his own chest, whispering, "Does this look like I don't trust you?" The barrell pressed directly over the JM scar on his chest, and he could feel the coldness of the steel seep through his shirt and into his skin. He repressed a shiver and pressed it harder against his chest to cement his point.

Jim breathed in sharply. "Seb...You..." He looked at him and pressed the trigger but nothing came out. "There was never a second bullet, Seb. I could never..." He shook his head slightly and removed his hand from the gun, his fingers shaking as they came away from the grip and trigger. Sebastian closed his eyes and tossed the gun to the side, taking in a long, deep breath and exhaling as he spoke.

"I know." He slowly wound one arm around Jim's waist. "I'll take on Hooper, if you need me to."

Jim's eyes closed and he breathed deeply for a minute, his breath's coming out shakier than normal. "Please. She really is the key to the plan." He leaned into Sebastian's arm a bit and opened his eyes. "She isn't your replacement, Seb, because you are not replaceable. Now, or ever. Not to me." He whispered against his lips, "And she will never find her way into your bed, because you are _mine_. And I am _yours_."

Sebastian sighed and pressed his forehead to Jim's, before opening his eyes to look down. "And the world is _ours_." He hesitated only slightly, then leaned forwards and pressed his lips to Jim's thinner ones.

"Yes..." Jim sighed against Sebastian's lips and pressed back.

Sebastian leaned back against the door, pulling Jim with him with his arm around his waist and moved his other hand to the back of that dark head, running his hand through dark hair. Jim hummed under his breath and leaned against the taller man as his hands grasped at the front of his shirt. "Mmmm."

Sebastian grabbed at the material of his bosses blazer, biting down on his lip slightly, before doing it again and drawing blood. This caused Jim to moan loudly and lick against his mouth, one hand running over Sebastian's chest lightly. Sebastian moaned in response, and pulled back slightly to move down to Jim's pale jaw and neck. Jim helpfully tilted his head to bare his neck and used his nails to scratch lightly across Sebastian's abdomen.

He jerked and let out a shaky breath, resting his head on Jim's shoulder and breathed deeply. "Four years. Four /fucking/ years I've wanted this. Wanted you." He pushed his nose against Jim's hair and breathed in the scent of spicy shampoo.

Jim huffed out a laugh and lifted a hand to run through Sebastian's short blonde hair. "You only had to ask, Seb." He closed his eyes and said quietly, "Ask, and I am yours."

Sebastian's response is a whispered, "Be mine?" that tickled Jim's neck with warm breath.

Jim smiled, and for the first time in a long time, it reached his eyes. "Always. Forever." He wrapped his arms around Sebastian and held him tight. "As long as you'll have me."


End file.
